Malaysia Trip: Food Fest

I'm one of those crazy people who take photos of my food and email them to my family.  Food is just such an important part of life...one of our basic necessities.  Anyhow, I thought I would just end my Malaysia Trip blogs with snapshots of the wonderful things we were so grateful to consume:

***CAUTION:  FOOD OVERLOAD***

Middle Eastern food from a Food Market in Georgetown, Penang

Middle Eastern dish from the Food Market

Green Apple and Guava juice, Orange and Mango juice from the Food Market

A selection of fruits and some sort of sauce at the same Food Market in Georgetown, Penang

Hainan chicken

Snacks from Little India

Oysters from The Ship 

Baked potato, steak, corn on the cob, and broccoli from The Ship

Some beef dishes with medicinal soup (I think)

The most delicious spicy fish-n-chips I've ever tasted

Cheese slathered fish

Lime and Carrot Juice

Orange juice, Garden Salad, and Carrot juice

Delicious burger

The snacks we tried whilst in Langkawi

One of the many durian chocolates we bought for gifts and personal consumption

Another snack that we bought for our beach days

Iced tea and beer from Orkid Ria Seafood Restaurant

Shrimp dish at Okrid Ria Seafood Restaurant

Mixed veggies

Beef curry

Fried rice and chicken

Coffee and pistachio gelato 

Fruit from the Mardi Agrotechnology Park 

Orange and Carrot juice (I fell in love with carrots on this trip)

Malaysian noodles

Papaya salad

Bamboo clams

Spicy clams

This blog, like most food posts, has made me hungry...

Malaysia Trip: Beaches

The type of holiday that I always crave is one where there are beaches to lounge on.  We tried to visit as many beaches as we could.  

Our first beach was especially for snorkeling:  Palau Payar.  This was a tour that we joined that was 180 ringgit/ person, including lunch, snorkeling gear, and transport to and from our hotel.  This was a 6 hour day starting with riding out to Palau Payar by ferry (which was about an hour) with a big group of people.  There were about 4 other tour groups that were out at this snorkeling spot as well.

Palau Payar was beautiful and probably really popular because of the numerous fish that swam in its waters.

The second beach we visited was on our Mangrove Tour.  This place was beautiful.  I'm not that brave to swim in the ocean on my own.  Most times, I'll probably be wearing my life vest or swimming at the local pool.  But, the water at this beach was so calm it was almost still.  I wish Hong Kong beaches had water this calm...and clean.

The final days of our trip, we decided to explore the beaches on the west side of the island.  We caught a taxi out to Burau Bay.  This beach was beautiful, with water so calm that it was almost still as well.  But, there was something really eerie about the water.  

We walked the length of the beach, which was partially owned by a resort.  The people at the resort were lounging at the outdoor pool, but no one ventured out into the Bay's water.  We walked a bit further and found a bunch of cow droppings and thought that maybe it was the cow poo that deterred people from swimming out there.  When we got to the lighthouse at the other end of the Bay, we asked around and some of the locals said there were jelly fish in the water.  So it was good we didn't take a chance at diving in!

So, Burau Bay was a beautiful place to just sun bathe and picnic.

As for swimming, a great place we found was Pentai Cenang, which is on the west side of the island too.  This was truly a WHITE SAND BEACH moment.  The sand was so soft and the water was also beautifully clear.  There was also a safe swimming zone that kept swimmers out of the way of the speed boats.  This beach is really close to a lot of tourist attractions, which stretch all along the west side of Langkawi.  It's also close to a lot of restaurants, so there's no need for us to really pack a picnic.

Not a beach for lounging:

We spent an entire day at Pentai Cenang and walked down Jalan Pantai Cenang to a beach that seemed dedicated entirely to water sports.  I thought I would show you a few photos because it's also a beautiful spot to watch the sun set!

This was about 5pm and you can see the sun coming down

The morning we left, we headed out to Tanjung Rhu Beach on the north side of the island.  This was one of my favorite beaches because it was low tide.  And because it was low tide, I could walk out a few 100 meters out and the water was still down at my waste.  This beach was, like most beaches we visited, really quite secluded.

It has been two weeks since we left Langkawi and looking at these photos makes me miss the holiday so much.  Thankfully, it's still unbearably hot in Hong Kong and I can still head out to the beach...which I have been doing.  So, look forward to some more beach posts, if you want to find a great spot to swim or sunbathe in Hong Kong.

Malaysia Trip: Kuah Town

Every time I move to a new place, I always get excited to explore the area and get my bearings.  It's a trait that my father probably passed along to me.  Basically, I step out the front door of my place and walk straight in one direction and then straight back.  Then, on another day, I will select another direction and walk straight back.  And so it goes...

We found Kuah Town (the actual epicenter of the town) on the third day that we arrived on Langkawi.  The first day, we explored the little town area around our hotel.  The second day we walked in the direction of Jetty Point and Eagle Square.  So, discovering Kuah Town (which was only a 5 minute walk from our hotel) was awesome because it gave us so many new options for food!

The day we actually walked into Kuah Town, it was a Saturday, so we walked into the weekend Night Market being set up.  And you know how much I adore Night Markets!

Food stalls along the river

Night Market setting up in front of the Langkawi Baron Hotel

(Referring to the photo above)  On Langkawi, there are a group of hotel/resorts under the Baron name. And the name so reminds me of Abel "The Baron" Rosnovski in Jeffrey Archer's Kane and Abel.  Has anyone else read this?  Anyhow, this Baron Hotel on the right of the photo is beautifully painted as the Malaysian flag and is quite a landmark for directioning yourself around the Town.

This Night Market was my favorite on this trip because of the huge selection of local street foods.  We went from stall to stall buying foods to try along the way.  And, like always, I thought it would be nice to share our journey.

Fruit juices and teas

Night Market setting up

A pancake or crepe-like snack

Some clothing vendors on the other side of the river

Beef, chicken, and lamb satay sticks

Papaya salad

Fried rice and noodles

Sausages and burgers

As you can probably tell, we were full by the time we hit the sausage stall.  I love street food!

The Night Market went beyond just the river.  In the center of Kuah Town, there were also stalls set up with similar food stalls and a lot more great things to see (Langkawi t-shirt booths, souvenir booths, accessory booths, etc...)  I think, because it was quite warm, temperature-wise, that trying all the different fruit juices was my favorite part about walking around the Night Market.  It was also a great way to cleanse the palate before trying something new.

By the time we got dessert, it was too dark to get a good foodie photo, but I hope this traveller's post about Kuah Town's Night Market does some justice!